在高考阅读理解中，主题概括类试题的考查占有十分重要的位置。掌握所读材料的主旨和大意也是《英语课程标准》和《考试说明》对考生的基本要求之一。只有通过阅读掌握了文章的主题，才能正确理解文章，进而根据文章的事实细节推测作者的态度和观点。

　　主题概括题主要考查学生把握全文主题和理解中心思想的能力。根据多年的备考及高考实践，我们可以分析出阅读理解主题概括类题目的一般范围是：基本论点、文章标题、主题或段落大意等。它要求考生在理解全文的基础上能较好地运用概括、判断、归纳、推理等逻辑思维的方法，对文章进行高度的概括或总结，属于高层次题。

　　拟题大致有以下一些提问方式：

　　The text is mainly about ____.

　　The main idea／The general idea／The main purpose is .

　　What’s the main point the writer is trying to make in the last paragraph?

　　What would be the best title /headline for the text?

　　This article mainly tells about the story of ____.

　　What is the topic of the text?

　　The writer’s purpose in writing this story is ____.

　　The subject discussed in this text is ____.

　　What does the second paragraph discuss?

　　The paragraph (passage) deals with _____.

　　Which of the following best summarizes the passage？

　　从以上具体的提问形式可知此类题目可概括为两大类，即怎样理解段落及文章整体的中心思想和怎样拟定或选择恰当的文章标题。下面结合高考题实例来具体分析此类题目的解题技巧。

　　一、段落及文章整体的主题大意的理解

　　文章是由段落组成的，段落是发展一个主题（topic）的一群句子，段落的主题就是段落的中心思想。而就一整篇文章而言，具体段落的中心思想又是为文章整体的中心思想服务的。寻找具体段落的中心思想的方法是：通过分析篇章结构，找出每小段的主题句，通过主题句找出文章主题。

　　主题句通常有这样的特点：

　　①有一个话题（topic）；

　　②有阐述控制性概念（controlling idea），通常在段落的首句或尾句，偶尔也可在一段的中间；

　　③有的文章无明显主题句，主题句隐含在段意之中，这就需要读者进一步加工概括了。

　　解这类试题应根据以下几个步骤，掌握此类题的解题技巧：

　　1. 寻找主题句，确定文章主题

　　在许多情况下，尤其在阅读说明文和议论文时，根据其篇章特点我们可以通过寻找短文的主题句来归纳出文章的主题。主题句在文章中的位置通常有三种情况：开头、中间、结尾（含在开头结尾同时出现、首尾呼应的主题句）。因此仔细阅读这类文章或段落的首尾句是关键。做主题概括类试题多采用浏览法（skimming），浏览时，一般不需逐句浏览，只需选读文章的首段, 尾段或每段的首句和尾句,重点搜索主题线索和主题信息。

　　例 2004上海高考试题阅读C篇

　　We are all interested in equality, but while some people try to protect the school and examination system in the name of equality, others, still in the name of equality, want only to destroy it.

　　Any society which is interested in equality of opportunity and standards of achievement must regularly test its pupils. The standards may be changed—no examination is perfect—but to have to tests or examinations would mean the end of equality and of standards. There are groups of people who oppose this view and who do not believe either in examinations or in any controls in school or on teachers. This would mean that everything would depend on luck since every pupil would depend on the efficiency, the values and the purpose of each teacher.

　　Without examinations, employers will look for employees from the highly respected schools and from families known to them—a form of favourtism will replace equality. At the moment, the bright child from an ill—respected school can show certificates to prove he or she is suitable for a job, while the lake of certificate indicates the unsuitability of a dull child attending a well—respected school. This defend of excellence and opportunity would disappear if examinations were taken away, and the bright child form a poor family would be a prisoner of his or her school’s reputation, unable to compete for employment with the child from the favoured school.

　　The opponents of the examination system suggest that examinations are an evil force because they show differences between pupils. According to these people, there must be no special, different, academic class. They have even suggested that there should be no form of difference in sport or any other area: all jobs or posts should be filled by unsystematic selection. The selection would be made by people who themselves are probably selected by some computer.

　　85. The passage mainly focuses on ___________.

　　A. schools and certificates

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